TikTok creator ByteDance vows to curb AI video tool after Disney threat

ByteDance's new AI video tool Seedance 2.0 can generate videos based on just a few lines of text. ByteDance's new AI video tool Seedance 2.0 can generate videos based on just a few lines of text. Videos created by new Seedance 2.0 generator go viral, including one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting Mon 16 Feb 2026 03.25 ESTLast modified on Mon 16 Feb 2026 03.29 EST ByteDance, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok, has said it will restrain its AI video-making tool, after threats of legal action from Disney and a backlash from other media businesses, according to reports. The AI video generator Seedance 2.0, released last week, has spooked Hollywood as users create realistic clips of movie stars and superheroes with just a short text prompt. On Friday, Walt Disney reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance which accused it of supplying Seedance with a "pirated library" of the studio's characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars, according to the US news outlet Axios. Disney's lawyers claimed that ByteDance committed a "virtual smash-and-grab" of their intellectual property, according to a report from the BBC.